The Sage's Apprentice
by Oboro-Kun
Summary: Naruto leaves to train with Jiraiya at an early age before he comes back for the genin exam. A ninja needs GUTS! And a truly gutsy ninja he will become! Haven't decided pairing, but will NOT include yaoi. Rated 'M' for safety.
1. Chapter 1: What's Ramen?

**The Sage's Apprentice.******

**Chapter 1: What's Ramen?**

"You want to what?" Asked the old man to the aging man. Sarutobi Hiruzen was sat opposite his former pupil; Jiraiya of the Legendary Sanin. Both men were weary with age, and tired from the events of the past week. A tragedy had befallen their home, the village hidden in the leaves, Konoha. Hundreds were dead, the 4th Hokage, leader of the village, was among them, and Sarutobi, the 3rd, had retaken up his mantle. Destruction the likes the village had never seen, property damage which the villagers demanded compensation for, defences which made the village more vulnerable. With the possibility of war due to it's weakened state, Sarutobi had barely slept, and now this!

"You heard me Sensei. I want to train him. With both of them gone, the boy is vulnerable to whomever had a grudge against them. It's no secret the two were together. Giving him her last name isn't foolproof. He needs more than the hospitals, and eventually, the orphanages safety. Frankly, they aren't safe at all. There's a lot of angry people looking for a scapegoat out there. There's no telling exactly how this situation will play out. He might be seen as a hero, sure, but far more likely I believe he'll be treated as a pariah."  
>Sarutobi couldn't argue with Jiraiya's logic. But this was asking a lot. Jiraiya also had enemies. It was dangerous no matter which way he played it, and to add to Jiraiya's arguments, council members were already arguing over what to do with the boy. Some of the more militant ninja, Danzo in particular, had called for the child to be trained as a Ninja at the earliest opportunity. Some of the less smart members of the council, in particular, the civilian sect, had called for the Childs head. Nothing new. The civilians had always despised Kushina. Now they had a younger, weaker target. After everything had done, they had, in a way, been right. The beast Kushina, and now her son, imprisoned had broken it's chains. He had already enforced a law which forbade anyone from talking about it, in the hopes the children of his generation would not treat him the same as Kushina's generation had treated her.<p>

"Suppose I let you do this, Jiraiya. Are you even sure you can look after a newborn?" Jiraiya was not what most would consider father material. He drank, he gambled, and had an Achilles heel for women. That had, however, lessened when Jiraiya had begun teaching. Hell, he practically became straight as a blade. Maybe this would be as good for the Child as it would be for him.

"I'm the kid's godfather, Sensei. I have to do something to help the kid. I owe it to him. To them. To him." His voice cracked at the end of the sentence. Jiraiya had taken the loss of his student hard. He'd drank constantly, hit on practically every woman in Konoha, and the look in his eyes whenever Sarutobi saw him was, broken. The 3rd Hokage had half expected Jiraiya to leave. Go back on his travels, securing Intel for the leaf village on any and all threats, trying to discern some kind of deeper meaning behind what had happened. He would not have been wrong. What neither of the two knew was exactly how orchestrated the attack had been. Jiraiya had very nearly done this, in fact, but that's another story for another time.

"I can't let you have him." Jiraiya was opening his mouth to protest when he was silenced by what came next. "Yet. You have absolutely no idea how to look after a baby. Getting up every night at god knows what time, looking after and watching him 24/7, having to deal with the crying and the pooping and the crying and the vomiting and the crying and the feeding and ALL THE DAMN CRYING." Tears poured down his face as Jiraiya realised that, after having three children, the old man knew what he was walking about. He could definitely not deal with crying.

"I'll let you take Naruto away, when he's 9 That'll give him 4 years with you before he has to come back for the Genin exam. After that, I'm assigning him to Kakashi. Kakashi will be a fine ninja, if not Kage material himself by then. He'll still be your apprentice, but I can't deny Kakashi the chance to train his Sensei's son. Until that time, I want you back out in the field, gathering Intel, and eliminating threats to the village. With Minato gone, and having just survived a major attack ourselves, we're probably appearing pretty vulnerable, especially to the Hidden Rock and Hidden Cloud. I need you to silence any threat to the village, or let us know of any threats you can not handle personally immediately. Assassinate if you must, but try to avoid giving them a reason to attack. We need a strong show of strength right now." As he pulled out his pipe and began stuffing it, Sarutobi thought about the reports he had read earlier. The rock had deployed it's strongest units to it's borders. Which did not bode well.

Across from him, his student crossed his arms and closed his eyes in thought. Probably thinking it through and agreeing that this was the best course of action. Jiraiya got to train the boy, as he had wanted, and knowing Jiraiya he would come back at a level far above his age, Naruto would be safe with Jiraiya, knowing exactly who, and what he was, and why he was, and the villagers would be happy in knowing their children wouldn't have to go to the academy with him. As he mused this, Jiraiya looked up.

"There's always Ma and Pa. They complain I'm never around, and looking after Naruto would be good for them. I can pop back to Mount Myouboku when between missions, he wouldn't have to worry about being treated badly, and it would protect him from assassination." Jiraiya suggested. To Sarutobi it was, an interesting alternative. Better than he had suggested at any rate.

"Hmmmmmmmmm. If I'm honest, I want to keep an eye on him myself. And from what I've heard, Shima's cooking leaves much to be desired." He was right. "But you raise a good point. I'll let him go with you. When he's 7. Around the time he would be starting the Academy. Let him be around other humans for a while, I'll see to him until then. That's my final offer. And if this is concluded, I believe you have work to do." Letting out a puff of smoke, Sarutobi stared directly at his former student, and the discussion was over. Sighing after about a minute or two, Jiraiya spoke again;

"Ok Sensei, it's a deal. I'll take him, train him, and bring him back for the Genin exams. I've already heard rumours upon rumours of some potentially hostile organisation being formed, Aka-something or whatever, so I'll look into that, and keep tabs on the other villages, and Orochimaru of course. Cya then Sensei, I'm off." And with a puff of smoke he was.

Left to himself, Sarutobi stood out of his chair, and walked towards the window of his office which overlooked the entire village. The moon shone upon his face and the 3rd wondered how late it really was, and how long him and his pupil had been talking. Taking a drag of his pipe, he stared up at the stars, contemplating the future of the child. He was by no means an ordinary case. True enough it is also not often your village gets attacked by the strongest of a mythical set of tailed beasts, the 9 Tailed Fox. And it is most certainly not often, that said Fox is sealed into the son of your successor, one of the strongest ninja in the world.

"Naruto Uzumaki….." Breathing out the smoke from his lungs, the Hokage stared out at his village.

"I'm too old for this shit."

**4 YEARS LATER  
><strong>  
>Being Naruto Uzumaki, was definitely not fair, decided the child who's name was so. No one liked him. He could tell that much. All the other kids had friends. Naruto didn't. The other kids were allowed seconds at dinner. Naruto wasn't. The other kids got to play with all the best toys. Naruto wasn't allowed to play with them, they said. Only good boys are allowed to go to play outside, they said. Naruto Uzumaki, was not a good boy, they said. The other kids knew this. If a toy was broken, it was him. If one of the kids played a prank on one of the grown ups, it was him. Even if it wasn't him, if anyone, literally anyone, said it was him, then it was him. He took the punishment, the blame, and everyone played on it. He'd beaten up a kid for blaming him once. They'd broken a window playing football outside. They blamed him. Even though Naruto wasn't allowed outside, and the glass had broken inwards, the grown ups accepted this as the truth, and Naruto wasn't allowed dinner that night.<p>

The only person who was nice to him was the old man. Naruto liked the old man. He was kind, and kept telling him that one day his godfather was going to come and take him away, and make him strong. Naruto liked the stories, held onto them. He didn't really believe, but the thought that there might someone out there who did love him, was enough to keep him in a good mood. He was happy right now because the old man was coming to see him! He had been sitting in the corner reading his favourite story book, Kage's lost kitty, when the Matron had all but dragged him into the waiting room. Full of chairs, and decorated a very plain, boring brown, Naruto hated this room. It was boring. He had dropped the book, when Matron had dragged him off, so with nothing to do he was simply sat swinging his legs.

He was soon bored, this was taking far too long. Usually he waited for simply a minute or so as the Hokage, was that was the grown-ups had called him?, came to get him. Usually they just sat in his office and talked while drinking tea, but Naruto liked it. One day the old man took him too the roof, and they ate lunch together. Home made rice balls, which Naruto thought were really tasty. It had been the old man who'd taught him how to read, the grown ups didn't want too, and given him his favourite book. When Matron came back into the room though, something was wrong. She was smiling. She never smiled. She looked as though she'd just won the jackpot. The half glare, half ecstatic face she was looking at Naruto with terrified him. Had he done something wrong? Was the old man going to send him far away like all the other kids kept saying he would. He began to panic, especially when she told him to get his things and mumbled something about 'Being out of her hair'. He went back into his dorm, and it was empty, all the other kids were probably playing outside. He picked up his book, put some of his clothes into the bag Matron had half thrown at him, and packed what little he had.

Walking through to the reception, standing there, wasn't the old man. This was someone new. He was very tall, Naruto thought, and old. Not quite as old as old man Hokage, but pretty old. He had long white hair, green gi with mesh underneath it, a red cloak on top, hand guards, and wooden sandals called 'Geta,' if Naruto remembered rightly. He also had a headband, but it was different to the ones the ninja's of the village wore, it had 2 horns, and said 'Oil' instead of having the leaf symbol on it. There were 2 red lines stretching down from his eyes to his jaw, and he had a little wart on his nose. Naruto stared for a while, with a very confused look on his face, until the man spoke.

"Hey there kid, my name's Jiraiya. Sure the old man has told you about me?" The old man put his hand on his head and laughed, Naruto thought he was a little weird, he'd never heard a grown up laugh before. And the name was familiar. Jiraiya, Jiraiya, where had he heard that name? Oh! Jiraiya! That was, his godfather right? The one the old man said would take him out of the orphanage! A huge smile popped erupted onto his face as he pointed and shouted.

"YOU'RE THE GROWN-UP THE OLD MAN TALKED ABOUT, WHO'S GONNA TAKE ME AWAY! YOU'RE MY GOD FA-" Instantly the mans hand was on his mouth. He whispered in Naruto's ear,

"Try not to tell too many people that eh kid? It's a secret for now." And he winked at the child in front of him, who shook his head feverously, the huge grin still on his face.

'He's the spitting image of his father…' Jiraiya said inwardly. The huge blonde eyes, and hair blonde as the sun. He was wearing a plain white shirt and black trousers and was scrawny, even for his age. and the whisker marks on his face were an obvious side effect to having the 9 tails inside of him. Probably didn't help him any with the adults of the village, he mused. Knowing how Minato's wish for him to be seen as a hero, had not happened.

"Thank you Lord Jiraiya, I think I've about had enough of his squawking. I'm surprised its taken the Hokage this long to have him dealt with. Good riddance." The Matron had a look of disgust on her face as she spoke down to the child in front of her.

"I think you're misunderstanding the situation. Sensei isn't having him 'dealt with', I'm taking him, to train him as a ninja." Replied the Sanin, a stern look on his face. Obviously she disapproved, judging by the fact if her jaw was any lower it'd be on the floor. Though a second later, it had been replaced by a very sinister one. Obviously she had misunderstood Jiraiya's meaning again.

"The Hokage is going to try and control it, as Danzo wished, my my, this is even better, if you can learn to control that thing then…" Jiraiya cut her off.

"Watch what you say. We're off, Naruto." Turning towards the exit, Jiraiya started walking away, his fists shaking. The amount of self restrain he'd shown in there was, for him, a miracle. He'd wanted so badly to punch that woman. He'd stepped out of the door when he heard a shout behind him and a pair of little feet running to catch up. He slowed down, and turned to the little bob of blonde hair at his side, smiling.

"I'm feeling hungry, how about I treat you to some ramen?" Ichiraku Ramen was close by, and he figured it would be good way to break the ice. A puzzled look crossed his face as he answered.

"What's Ramen?"

Jiraiya just laughed.

An hour and a half later, Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh at the kid who was running around in front of him screaming about how awesome ramen was, how it was the best food in the world, as they made their way to Hokage's tower. He'd completely demolished his bowl, and wanted a second, but as skinny as he was, Jiraiya was sure he'd throw up.

"Maybe we'll have another after we've seen the old man."

That had been fair enough, and the kid accepted it without complaint. The two walked on and that was that.

'Though I will probably have to get him another bowl.' Thought the ninja.

As they walked the road to Hokage tower and the academy, Jiraiya's suspicions were confirmed as he saw the looks the people gave him. Not just civilians, ninja too. Some of the ninja he recognised as being there that very night the 9 tails attacked. How could they not see him as a hero? It was what the 4th, his student, his friend, his legacy, had wanted. So much hate towards a child, he couldn't understand. What he could understand, was how to change this. He had to make Naruto into a strong ninja. He'd raised one Hokage, raising another, from an earlier age, raising another one should be no problem. He was wrong of course. Naruto would be all kinds of trouble for him. But he remained blissfully unaware of the future, and as they approached the tower, he called Naruto back to him, and they walked the stairs up to the old man's office together.

Being seen in by a young Chunin, Iruka, if he remembered rightly, who smiled at him, and looked away swiftly at Naruto, Jiraiya stood before his old Sensei, and nodded. Sarutobi nodded back, and turned his gaze to the child in front of him.

"Good morning Naruto, I trust you realise what Jiraiya being here means?" Asked the old man.

"You wasn't lying! He's my god father and he's gonna take me away and make me really strong and then when I come back everyone will like me!" His eyes lit up, and his hands made fists as he punched the air above him and then pointed to the old man.

"I'm gonna be stronger than you old man! I'm gonna be Hokage! Yeah!" He punched in front of himself a few more times then grinned his trademark grin and put his hands behind his head.

"A worth goal indeed. I don't doubt you could one day, if you try hard enough." Sarutobi replied. "Jiraiya here was the teacher of the 4th Hokage, who saved the village from the 9 tailed fox, he'll make you very strong one day. He's going to take you with him, you'll travel with him, he'll teach you what you need to know, and you'll come back here in 6 years. Then, you'll take the Genin test all ninja have to take. And if you pass, you'll work for me, as a ninja of the leaf village." He didn't doubt Naruto would pass. Jiraiya's last students had all passed the Chunin exam within 1 year of becoming Genin. Minato on the first try, the others on their next. Though both had long since passed away in the war which made Minato the legend he became, Minato had become Hokage in no small part thanks to Jiraiya's teachings. He had already expected big things from Naruto, but this, this would make him into a legend equalling his father.

The kid squealed so loudly both men lost their balance. Then laughed.

"OK sensei, you have the scroll I wanted?" To which the older of the two nodded, picked a sealed scroll from his drawer and threw it at Jiraiya, who caught it like it was second nature.

"Well, if that's that, we're gonna be off. Thanks again Sensei, goodbye." Jiraiya smiled at his old teacher, and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, who beamed up at him, before running to the Hokage and jumping up at him, embracing the old man in a hug that was considerably tighter than he had expected. He returned it, and patted Naruto's head.

"Get strong, Naruto. I have high hopes for you." Naruto, who was already beaming, burst into tears and hugged the old man even harder.

"I'LL *sniff* MISS YOU *sniff* OLD MAN!" Cried Naruto through the Kage's robes. After a minute of just holding him, Naruto pulled away and wiped his eyes. Still smiling at him, the Hokage brushed Naruto off, and Naruto ran back over to Jiraiya.

"JUST WAIT OLD MAN. I'M GONNA BE SUPER STRONG WHEN I COME BACK!" Naruto shouted, turning around and stomping his way out. Laughing to himself, Jiraiya waved goodbye to his Sensei and turned to leave with him. After both had left his office, the old man took out his pipe once more, stuffed it full of tobacco, turned to face his beautiful village and lit it, and took a drag. Exhaling as he looked out a tear ran down his face.

"Goodbye for now, Naruto." 

-  
><strong>Authors Note:<br>Holy Hellfire Batman! After what, 4 years? I'm writing fan fiction again! A complete whimsical thing, I haven't read any fan fiction in a long time, much less read any. But who cares! Certainly not me! Anyone who's here from having me on story alert on 'Art Explodes' then I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be updating that. I've grown a fair bit as a person and a writer, I mean I'm what, 21 now? That story isn't interesting to me any more, and the writing is way shoddy compared to this, I think. I'm not even sure I'll be able to stick to this for long, but I'll try my best! Anyway thanks for reading, hope you liked it! I'm gonna keep this as an 'M' rated story because while there probably won't be any for a while, there will be excessive violence and probably sex scenes later on.**

**Also, if you're thinking this is yaoi. Look elsewhere. JS.**

**Peace.**


	2. Chapter 2: Mt Myouboku

**The Sage's Apprentice.**

**Chapter 2: Who's that kid?**

"Nearly there kid, keep a look out, you'll see it any second." It had been 4 months since Naruto had left Konoha. Him and his sensei Jiraiya, had done nothing but walk in that time. It had started to annoy the 7 year old, but he just kept getting told to wait. He was tired of waiting. Though he had to admit, it wasn't all bad. They'd stayed in a lot of inns, god the beds were so comfortable! He'd been in his first hot springs, he'd tried lots of new food, even if it couldn't compare with the Ramen he'd had at Ichiraku.

"Really? We're nearly there? THANK GOD, WE'VE BEEN WALKING FOREVEEEER!" Exclaimed a now very hyperactive ninja. The road they was on was awfully generic, nothing but trees for miles, but further down the road he could see light piecing the trees, what Naruto thought was an opening. The thought of nearly reaching his destination overtaking him, he ran forward as fast as he could. When he got to the light, he stopped, and took in the view.

He was standing on the top of a hill, the path arched downwards and split into 3 different paths. In the distance to his right, he saw it. The green line of threes that made the horizon in every direction burst up to form the mountain Jiraiya had told Naruto was named Myouboku. It wasn't high enough to have snow atop its summit, but it was still the biggest thing Naruto had ever seen. And wide, colossally wide. It was so wide it went to behind the tree line Naruto was standing even with. Catching up behind him was the man who had taken him with him. Naruto was still unsure what to think of the old man, but he seemed pretty nice, he'd bought Naruto a lot of food, and was promising to train him. Yes, he decided he did like Jiraiya.

"Stay close to me kid, here's the part that gets most people." The man in question told his younger companion. Walking next to him, Naruto noticed they were heading to the path going to the left.

"Hey old man, we're supposed to go right! Why are you going left?" Naruto had stopped walking and pointed to the mountain that was to his right, angrily demanding why they were obviously going the wrong way. To his surprise, Jiraiya simply laughed and shook his hand.

"Didn't I say this part gets most people? Trust me, it's left. I practically grew up here." Which was mostly true. Growing up to Jiraiya meant being mature. And some things, he absolutely knew, he was completely immature about. Naruto raised a fist about to retort when he was cut off.

"There's immensely powerful Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, and Fuinjutsu at work here Naruto, the other roads are fakes, and contain an immense amount of lethal traps. Unless you fancy being killed, and hiking past a lot of corpses, feel free to take the other paths. But even if we make it past the traps, we'll be immensely off course. By another month or so." That shut him up.

"There's Genjutsu placed on both the middle and left paths. Genjutsu, being the ninja art of Illusion, distorts your opponents senses and allows you to influence what your enemy see's, hears, feels, thinks. This Genjutsu makes the person looking to find Myouboku find the other paths more appealing. They smell nicer, fresher, and the person who doesn't realise they are afflicted with it will subconsciously almost always pick the middle or right paths." Naruto was now completely fixated on Jiraiya. This was his first lesson, so he listened intently.

"Ninjutsu, are a ninjas bread and butter. They are techniques employed to directly hurt your enemy, or help you to hurt your enemy. This is where there is the most variation in our field. Fire style, water style, wind style, earth style, lightning style and summoning, are the most common 'types' of Ninjutsu. And even within them there is an infinite potential for variation. If you walked down the other paths you would quickly find it is extremely hot and humid. Courtesy of a Ninjutsu which distorts the atmosphere, controlling it how the user wills. It is performed once a year by one of the great Toads of Mount Myouboku. This unbearable atmosphere fatigues, and wears an enemy down, so that he is too weary to notice the traps, or dies before he makes any real progress." Naruto was practically sat down listening to him now. Smart kid, that thirst for knowledge will definitely make it easier to train him.

"Finally, there is Fuinjutsu. This is a specialty of mine, and you're descended from a fine line of Fuinjutsu users. So that will definitely be something I teach you. Fuinjutsu is the art of sealing. Sealing may not seem like a very ninja like thing, but it is invaluable to everyday ninja, and to master it is to be able to face an enemy who will in all likelihood, have no defence planned for you. Ninja's who specialise in sealing often become great ninja. The 4th Hokage, was a master of sealing. Anyone who sets foot on this path will instantly become known to the toads who keep the seal in place, alerting them of any intruders. When this does happen, an elite squad of ninja toads are dispatched to deal with the intruder before he even sets his sights on Myouboku." Naruto simply stared in awe at him. Pleased his first lesson had gone down well, he turned around, about to walk on, when he walked straight into something very big, which knocked him flat on his ass.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Hey old man! Was this one of the toads you were telling me about? Hahahahahahaha!" Bursting into a fit of laughter a second later, it was clear to Jiraiya that Naruto had not been focusing on what Jiraiya was saying. Instead, at the 3 story high toad behind him. Huge, orange, and very toad like, stood Gamabunta. The 7 year old scar across his right eye, the pipe, the blue kimono top, and the 50ft long sword on his hip, yup, that was Gamabunta.

"Jiraiya! What the hell are you doing here? You were expected a month ago! Ma and Pa were worried sick. Soon as they felt your natural energy they sent me to come get ye'." The toad's voice was deep and loud, Naruto could hardly believe it.

"The kid slowed me down a bit, he's only 7. But does this mean we can get a ride back to-"

"OH MY GOD A TALKING FROG. YOU'RE HUGE. HOW DID YOU GET SO BIG? HOW CAN YOU TALK? WHAT'S YOUR NAME? I'M NARUTO AND-" Naruto was quickly cut off when Gamabunta realised what Naruto had said.

"WHO YOU CALLING A FROG KID. I'M A TOAD. A TOAD. DON'T SHOVE ME IN WITH THAT LOT!" It would be around here that, for the first (and last) time, Naruto wet himself in fear. Cowering into a ball, he was scared stiff. He hadn't meant to upset the frog, no, toad. For sure he wouldn't say that again. We put his hands over his eyes but soon felt a very large hand on his back. It felt warm. Opening his eyes, he saw Jiraiya.

"He didn't mean to scare you kid, Gamabunta just has a bit of a temper. I won't let anything happen to you." The man grinned largely at Naruto, and the kid felt safe for the first time. He'd experienced beatings before. To see a Grown up who wasn't the old man smile at him, was weird, confusing, brilliant. Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes as he stood up and puffed out his chest. He marched past Jiraiya and stood right in front of Gamabunta, looking directly up into his eye.

"BRING IT ON YOU FAT SACK OF SHIT, I'M GONNA FUCK YOU UP SO BADLY YOU'LL WISH YOU'D NEVER BEEN BORN! EAT MY DICK YOU LITTLE PISSWANK."

…..

Neither of the two fully grown adults around him had ever heard someone so small spit out suck vile language, and both of them, coincidentally, found it hilarious. Fits of laughter erupted from both Jiraiya and Bunta. Naruto was confused, but he didn't let it show, he kept his strong face up, which only spurred them on further.

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I LIKE YOU KID. NO ONE'S DARED SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT TO ME SINCE I STILL HAD MY TAIL! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! TELL YOU WHAT KID, I'LL MAKE YOU MY HENCHMAN IF YOU GET STRONG ENOUGH! BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto had a puzzled look on his face at this. Not many people had ever told him they'd liked him, much less offered to be friend, if only of a sort, with him. He could probably count them on one hand. Nevertheless, he was excited at the prospect.

"Really? You'll be my friend? Fucking awesome!" Naruto leapt for joy, until Jiraiya brought his hand down on Naruto's head. Hitting the ground with a thump and landing flat on his back, he looked up at Jiraiya with a look of betrayal on his face.

"HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR GRAMPS?" Wincing in pain as he finished, obviously being too loud for his own head to manage.

"Look kid, it was funny, but cut down on the language. You're still just a kid, and I'm not having my apprentice go back to Konoha cursing like a sailor. It'll reflect badly on me you know!" Jiraiya scolded, crossing his arms and holding his head high in pride.

"HA! Worried about your image oh 'Gallant Jiraiya'? You do enough to reflect badly on yourself already, doubt people'd be surprised if Naruto went back with a filthy mouth, with the amount of filth you put in your 'Novels'! Anyway, get on my back, Ma and Pa are expecting you, and Ma's cooked up a feast!" Bellowed the giant toad.

Looking over to Jiraiya, the 7 year old could see how Jiraiya was about to retort, but a look of horror had passed on his face. He couldn't understand why, a feast sounded like heaven to him.

Nearly 2 hours later, Naruto understood why Jiraiya had a look of horror on his face. Sitting on the table in front of him was bowls and plates stacked up to the brim with all different kinds of bugs, crickets, worms, beetles, it was a toad's heaven. Ma and Pa were in the kitchen making beverages, while Naruto was sat next to Jiraiya, who had explained to him that 'Ma and Pa' were sages even stronger in some ways than Jiraiya. The young boy had expected to see toads even bigger than Gamabunta, so when he saw a pair of frogs that were as tall as his belly button, he couldn't help but burst out in laughter and disbelief.

The fact he was nursing a bruise on his head larger than his eyes had shut him up for the time being.

"Hahaha I told you he was strong kid. Fukasaku is one of the reasons I'm as strong as I am. Between him and the old man, they were both excellent teachers. While I'm away on missions, him and Shima will be instructing you. Not just in Ninjutsu, you'll learn Taijutsu, Genjutsu, we'll teach you how to read, how to write, how to outthink your opponent. By the time you're ready to go back, I want you to be able to wipe the floor with any Genin. Except maybe the Uchiha Kid. If he's Itachi's brother, he'll be a force to be reckoned with. It's not gonna be easy kid, unless you're prepared to commit 100%, I'll drop you right back in Konoha. And you can explain to the Old man how you weren't good enough for my training.' Nonchalantly looking off into the distance, Jiraiya's comments had exactly the effect he'd wanted.

"This'll be a walk in the park old man! Just watch! I'm gonna sail through your training! Then I'm gonna go back to Konoha and pass the exam! I'll be the strongest ninja ever!" This time, the shouting wasn't as loud, but there was something in Naruto's eyes which held Jiraiya's. Determination. Fire. He was Minato's and Kushina's alright. Through and through.

"I'd expect nothing less from my student. Now come on and chow down. If you close your eyes, its not as bad as you'd think.' The kid beamed in appreciation. Compliments, and recognition were things he'd never had before. This was going to be a fun few years, both of them thought. 

The next morning Naruto awoke in one of the most horrible ways he thought he ever had been. Water Straight on his face, and Jiraiya standing above him making an attempt at a scary face.

"Time to get up Kid." In a dreadfully ghoulish but incredibly calm voice.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Screamed an incredibly irritated child.

_'The face didn't work? Damn it Tenzou scares the life out of me when he does it, guess I better work on it more' _Thought Jiraiya.

"It's sunrise. We're beginning your training. Every morning you'll be doing dome form of training, apart from Sundays. Dawn till dusk, 6 days a week. Breakfast is at the table, eat it, and I'll meet you outside."

After a bowl of rice, which Naruto was extremely happy about (no bugs, just rice), Jiraiya made Naruto follow him into the immense forest around him. They Finally arrived at a somewhat small clearing, surrounded by immensely tall leaves, which sprung directly from the ground. The sun was jus rising as Jiraiya spoke to his student.

"Ok. I guess the first thing I need to teach you is Chakra. You're a bit young, but I'm sure you'll be up to it. You know what chakra is Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head to answer no.

"Chakra is an energy created in a Ninja's body by combining the Spiritual energy and Physical Energy inside your body. Spiritual energy comes from your experiences, your strength, and age, it's the energy of who you are. It's what makes you, you. Physical energy is the energy present in your body, in every cell of every tissue. You don't have to understand all of that just yet, but when you start moulding your chakra, knowing where it comes from will help you a lot, and you'll be able to mould it quicker."

Naruto looked very confused, but understood the basic concept, you mix chakra together inside of you. Explaining to Jiraiya, he was glad to hear he was right.

"Basically yes, that's all you need to know right now. Chakra is used in all Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, and most Taijutsu styles. Without Chakra we'd be nothing more than hired swords. The most powerful ninja can move mountains, create forests, split oceans, decimate entire armies in a flash. Today, you're going to learn to mould chakra. But that's not something that can be taught in a conventional way. You have to mould your first chakra yourself."

Jiraiya plucked a small leaf from a nearby bush and walked over to Naruto.

"Lie down on your back Naruto." He did so. Jiraiya looked very carefully at Naruto, then placed the leaf right over the kids heart.

"Ok, what I want you to do, is mould your first chakra. You have to imagine drawing energy from every part of your body, and mixing it together in your chest. The first time you do it, it'll hurt. Normally you have a set amount of chakra naturally formed flowing through you, moulding it puts more into your body than you usually use. When you do it, the leaf will hover for as long as you keep the chakra in your chest." And with that Jiraiya sat down a little further away from Naruto, took out some empty scrolls and a brush, and started writing on them, observing Naruto as he tried to mould his first chakra.

An hour later, Naruto had gotten no where, and was verbally complaining.

"Why won't this stupid leaf move? I'm doing exactly what you told me! It's too hard!" Naruto Stood up and threw the leaf to the ground, then sat down in a hump.

Sighing, Jiraiya picked up another leaf.

"Lie back down." As Naruto was about to protest, Jiraiya simply said it again.

"Lie back down.." This time, without protest, he did so. This time though, Jiraiya put his hand over the leaf, and Naruto felt something very weird in his chest. It was warm, strong, and felt a little sad to Naruto. Jiraiya removed his hand from Naruto's chest, and sat beside him.

"That, is chakra. The smallest of amounts I think I can muster. Remember that feeling. You have to recreate that feeling in your chest. Not exactly the same, but you get the idea. That's what you have to do."

Naruto closed his eyes, and concentrated, he pulled with his head from every part of his body, and without warning, his body exploded in warmth, and then heat. He let out a cry of pain as it his whole body for a split second screamed out in agony. Then, as soon as it came, it stopped. Naruto sat up, drenched in his own sweat and wiping tears from his eyes.

"That hurt! I did just do it right?" Looking up to Jiraiya, there was a look of pure astonishment on his face.

"Kid, you just made the leaf explode." The leaf didn't explode exactly, but right now, Jiraiya was having trouble explaining his words.

"Is…that good?" Replied Naruto.

"Kid. That, is unheard of. Get up, that's enough for today." And with that, They got up, and started thr walk back to Ma and Pa's house. Jiraiya said nothing the whole way there, while Naruto was jumping around shouting about how he was the strongest ninja alive.  
><em><br>'Not just yet you aren't. But with a chakra reserve that big, judging by how flooded his chakra system became, you'll be well on your way soon enough. No one's ever moulded chakra that fast, even Sensei said it took him a whole day his first try. This kid's a genius. But that scream of pain, was that the Nine tails' fault? I better study Minato's seal some more, but for now, rest, I daresay the kid has earned it.'_

**Chapter 2: End.**

**Authors Notes: **  
>SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG! I've had a lot of university work to do. Who knew Genetics would be so hard huh? There's going to be a few time skips next chapter, and by chapter 4 or 5 our hero will be back in the Leaf Village. Reviews are always welcome!<p>

Oh and regarding Pairings, I can safely say I'm not doing NaruHina or NaruSaku. My Naruto has his own preference in women. Which will become clear enough by the Chunin exam.

Peace!


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